$-chan and Chibita
$-chan and Chibita (＄ちゃんとチビ太), originally titled Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything, was a short-term gag manga by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro,created as a spinoff feature for the Chibita character in Osomatsu-kun. It debuted in Shueisha's magazine Shonen Book in May 1965, and ran until December of that year. It was followed up by the Uncle Dayon feature, then later followed up by a sequel, Chibita-kun. Overview After the title Kantaro ended in Shonen Book, Akatsuka and Fujio Pro issued this series with its identical protagonist who had been inspired by Kantaro in the first place. At the time, Chibita had become a popular character in'' Osomatsu-kun'' and was becoming more frequent in stories, often centered around him seeking revenge on Osomatsu and his brothers for bullying him, or otherwise giving them trouble. In this series, Chibita would be the outright protagonist but share his stories with another boy nicknamed''' $-chan;' $-chan serving as a substitute character for Osomatsu and the others. Depending on the story, $-chan can be friend or foe, but the two boys will often wind up having to team up together. Characters *Chibita *$-chan *Myu-tan, $-chan's cat *Iyami *Hatabō *Dayōn *A strange little bald man *Fujio Akatsuka, as himself in cameos and commentary Stories # '"$-chan and the Beanstalk"' (ドルちゃんと豆の木, May 1965): In a retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk", the pauper $-chan trades a cat for beans but winds up discovering a beanstalk growing from them. Together with the thief boy Chibita, he explores a castle that appears to be owned by a giant, but the truth may be even more unusual. # '"$-chan's Magic Violin"' (ドルちゃんのマジック・バイオリン, June 1965): $-chan is given a violin by an alien that crash-landed, and its music causes those who hear it to dance uncontrollably. # '"What Percentage is a Winning Chance? Chibi Kojiro"' (勝率何割?チビ小次郎, July 1965): Chibita faces off against $-chan in a sword fight; in this story they play the parts of Kojiro Sasaki (Chibita) vs. Musashi Miyamoto ($-chan). # '"$-chan's Treasure Island"' (ドルちゃんの宝島, August 1965): The poor ramen seller $-chan sets out in search of pirates' treasure, accompanied by Chibita. # '"$-chan and the Man of Snow"' (ドルちゃんと雪男, September 1965): $-chan and Chibita set sail on a cruise, but run into trouble in the arctic. # '"$-chan's Big Circus"' (ドルちゃんの大サーカス, October 1965): Chibita comes to blows with the acrobatic new classmate $-chan, who winds up being the young ringmaster of a circus that Chibita seeks to sabotage. # '"Robinson Crusoe $-chan"' (ドルちゃんのロビンソンクルーソー, November 1965):$-chan and Chibita become stranded on an island that turns out to be inhabited by cannibalistic natives. # (おでん千本チビ弁慶, December 1965): $-chan and Chibita battle it out in the Edo era. A prologue, "$-chan and Chibita", also features Akatsuka's speech being interrupted by the characters of the feature in order to introduce themselves. Reprints *Akebono Publishing: 1 volume kashihon edition (1967). Six chapters of the series were also later reprinted as extra content in vol.20 of the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" in 1970. The 20th volume mainly covers the series ''Mojamoja-ojichan. *eBookJapan: These stories are reprinted in vol.2 of "Chibita", released in 2009. They are presented as an extra collection of stories at the end. External Links *Work List, Koredeiinoda (Japanese) *Listing of Akatsuka reprints, Site Alive (Japanese) Category:Manga Series